The Script’s The Thing was the title of the first Dorset Festival of Scriptwriting, held in Dorchester in October 2023. A second festival is planned for 2025, but smaller events are planned for 2024. The Exchange is hoping to stage a taster event later this year to increase awareness of opportunities for writers based locally who write scripts for performance. The event would be open to anyone at whatever level of experience – even those just curious about the writing process for their favourite stage play, TV or film script. It would showcase some script in-hand performances, and hope to inspire and motivate writers at all levels to consider submitting for the Festival in 2025. If you write scripts – or would like to do so – or if you are simply curious about the process, please do get in touch with Robert Cowley to express your interest. You can reach him through The Exchange, by email [email protected] or 01258 475137. If we have enough interest we will make something happen!
It can only be… the return of the Clayesmore Classic & Supercar Sunday!
This relative newcomer to the Dorset summer event calendar is already a firm favourite and not one to be missed. Now in its third year, this summer’s show will include 450 of the finest, classiest, fastest and brightest cars ever made. It is a brilliant day out for all the family; wall to wall cars that will blow your mind… plus so much more.
Back by popular demand, there will again be TWO Rev Offs – last year’s did not disappoint. Set against the backdrop of Clayesmore house, it’s an amazing spectacle when the competing cars line up for the showdown of noise and muscle! There is plenty for the children to see and do too, including the FREE electric Land Rovers on a brilliant assault course, all courtesy of Harwoods, the headline sponsor. An exciting new addition for 2024 is the 80th Anniversary D-Day celebration feature: the display will include an interesting array of military vehicles, along with the 1940’s sounds of the Land Girls Singers! Keep your eyes and ears peeled for a fantastic spitfire flyover too!
As always, we’ll be rocking out to live music, and as you’d expect there’ll be no shortage of delicious food, with gourmet burgers, wood-fired pizza, gelato and crepes. clayesmore.com Sunday 18 August 10am to 4:30pm Clayesmore School A350 Iwerne Minster DT11 8LL
A final tribute: Roger Guttridge’s last literary journey as his words and Barry Cuff’s images take us on a stroll through the town’s past
My latest read is a somewhat bittersweet one – it’s the final book written by the late Roger Guttridge, completed in partnership with his friend Barry Cuff. Although Roger sadly didn’t live to see its publication, he and Barry finished it last year. Now, Wimborne Minster Through Time is available for all to enjoy. And enjoy it I have. Wimborne is not my home town, nor do I have any strong connection to it – yet I couldn’t resist reading the entire thing, despite only intending to dip in for a chapter or two. As you’d expect, the book is filled with historical images from the last century – and it’s not all corsets and horse-drawn carriages (though there’s plenty of those, of course). Roger and Barry have carefully drawn the timeline of Wimborne’s changes over the 20th century, sometimes coming as far as the 1970s, before the the most modern ‘now’ shots are provided to compare them with. Wimborne gets a swift potted history: it first appears in 718 as Winburnan and in 871 as Winburnan Mynster – literally ‘the monastery by the River Win’ (the old name for the Allen).
And in 871, King Alfred the Great attended the funeral of his brother King Ethelred (not the Unready one) following his death in battle near Cranborne. Then the book moves on to individual streets in the town, and every page of Barry’s fascinating images is littered with Roger’s trademark little gossippy stories and snippets of the everyday lives of the people and places in them. The 17th-century poet Matthew Prior, a Wimborne native, allegedly nodded off while reading the first edition of Sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the World in the chained library in Wimborne Minster, allowing candle wax to drip on to at least 100 pages.In 1930s pictures of West tBorough we see the three storey buildings which had belonged to the wealthy Fryer family, bankers and merchant suppliers to the Newfoundland cod trade. Apparently, their bank made high-interest, short-term loans to smugglers! East Street is shown following the great fire of 21st July 1900, which started in Hawker’s drapery shop when an assistant was asked to light a newly-installed gas burner in the window. Standing on a chair to reach the mantle and striking a match, she accidentally knocked it over, setting light to material in the window. The girl panicked, leaping back into the shop, and set the whole place ablaze. I could go on – but you’ll just have to go and buy the book. Whether you know and love Wimborne, or are simply fascinated by Dorset’s social history, it’s a great read – and makes a perfect gift.
In spite of her terminal illness, 73-year-old Marilyn McDonald planned a daring wing walk to raise funds for Dorset charity Countrymen UK
73-year-old Marilyn is terminally ill – but it was her little legs that defeated her. All images: Rachael Rowe
Marilyn McDonald has cared for people all her life. As a mental health nurse and manager, she has experienced people at their most vulnerable and challenging. This year, she is focused on raising funds for Dorset-based charity Countrymen UK. What makes the challenge particularly special is that 73-year-old Marilyn is terminally ill – but still determined to do something most of us would run a mile from … a wing walk. ‘It’s not about me, it’s about the Countrymen club. As a nurse, I’ve always been interested in people rather than illnesses. I am very appreciative that Weldmar and other cancer charities have helped me recently, but some of the smaller ones that look after people with Parkinson’s Disease and dementia don’t get very much money. I don’t have a lot myself, but I thought that if I could do something to raise £500, I could leave something that would help.’
Marilyn, centre, got to the cockpit, but could go no further
Stupid adventures Why would anyone want to do a wing walk? Marilyn says: ‘Because it’s so stupid! Why would anyone my age want to stand on the outside of a perfectly good plane? It also had to be something I could still physically do. ‘I don’t have a bucket list, but people keep finding me ridiculous things to do. Thanks to Weldmar, I’ve ridden a Harley Davidson motorbike in Dorchester. I loved that!’ Naturally, Marilyn had to do some essential preparation for her wing walk: ’My doctor had to sign me off, and I had an extra blood transfusion to help me. But it’s strightforward: once you’re on, I think you basically just have to hang on tight! You’re supported by a perching stool … but I don’t even like roller coasters!’ It sounds as thought Marilyn does love an adventure. ‘Well, I once got trapped by a bear … I was with my husband in the Canadian Rockies and we stopped to photograph some dragonflies.,’ says Marilyn. ‘As we were near a swamp, we were on boardwalks when we heard a noise. We looked up, and saw a bear between our car and us. Then we saw she had three cubs with her. We were literally stuck. So, we did nothing. We just sat there and watched her feed the cubs until she slowly moved away. It was the highlight of our holiday! My husband was wearing a baseball cap with the words ‘support bears’ on it, so I’ve always said that’s why she left us alone!’
Daughter-in-law Dannielle Kottnauer, standing in for Marilyn
The Wing Walk On Friday 31st May, Marilyn, accompanied by friends and family, went to Henstridge Airfield, which had supported her fundraising by donating the wing walk experience. Anyone who does a wing walk has to get onto the top platform – and off it – unaided: it’s part of the safety regulations. Marilyn, guided by the airfield staff, climbed onto the first level of the bi-plane’s lower wing. Then she got to the cockpit – halfway there and clearly determined. But there was a final, more challenging stage to go – getting onto the upper wing itself, which required grabbing the poles and levering herself into position. The next moment will resonate with everyone who has short legs. Marilyn was unable to get to the top wing, or pull herself further: the distance was further than she anticipated – and her legs wouldn’t reach! She had given it her all, but it was a step too far: ‘It’s designed for Tiller Girls – and I’m no Tiller Girl!’ To a loud round of applause, she returned to the observation area … but all was not lost. Like all nurses, Marilyn had a plan B. A few days before the flight she had said: ‘If I pop my clogs before the wing walk, my daughter-in-law said she’ll do it.’ That pragmatism meant that Danielle could take Marilyn’s place. She gave Marilyn a hug and was strapped to the plane in moments. Up she went, twirling in the sky, diving downwards and flying in a spiral as the pilot put on quite a show for the small crowd. ‘I asked them to give me the full works,’ said a smiling Danielle when she landed. ‘There was so much wind up there! The Henstridge staff have been absolutely fantastic – their safety procedures are second to none.’ Although Marilyn could not do the wing-walk, she still motivated and inspired others so that the essential fundraising could continue. Countrymen UK chief executive Julie Plumley praised her mentor Marilyn’s generous spirit: ’She motivated me when I started out in my career. It was Marilyn who inspired me to become a social worker when I didn’t know what to do. She is such a positive person. She has a wonderful calming manner, and she thinks of others all the time.’ Marilyn set out to raise £500. At the time of writing, she has raised more than £2,600 … and counting.
About the Countrymen Countrymen UK’s farms and countryside environments help to meet the challenges faced by men who find themselves isolated – perhaps because of deteriorating physical or mental health, or changing social circumstances. The organisation started when Julie Plumley couldn’t find an appropriate place for her father, who had worked on the land all his life: ‘He was 80, but thought he was 50. He simply didn’t want to be indoors all day.’ By developing Rylands Farm at Holnest as a care and support facility, men can spend time outdoors – caring for animals, perhaps doing woodcraft or a bit of gardening. There is now a Countrymen UK network nationwide, providing support for men.
Behind the scenes with Victoria O’Brien: from food science to a thriving catering business amid the rolling hills of Somerset. By Rachael Rowe
Victoria O’Brien catered the sponsors lunch at the Royal Bath & West Show – All images Courtenay Hitchcock
There’s an aromatic smell of lemons and freshly-baked cakes in Victoria O’Brien’s catering unit on a working farm near Wincanton – colleague Lauren is preparing for one of the many orders this week. The unit, based on a working farm, is the nerve centre for multiple catering events in the South West. From weddings to agricultural shows, there’s an incredible amount of behind-the-scenes planning that the customer never sees. Owner Victoria O’Brien started the business just after having her first child. ‘I grew up on a dairy farm and I’ve always loved cooking. I got my degree in food science, and I worked for ten years in food factories, monitoring the quality and safety of the production. However, when I had my first child I quickly realised things had to change. At the time, my mum worked with Southfield Caterers, and knew the owner was looking to retire. My husband and mum thought it would be a good idea for me to buy the business … so I did! I worked alongside them for a year, and then took over.’
A love of cooking ‘I took over the business in 2018 and ran it for a year before COVID came along. But we adapted by providing afternoon teas by home delivery. We did 550 afternoon teas for the 2021 Mother’s Day! ‘There are two distinct sides to the business. We provide event catering for anything from funeral teas to agricultural shows. My first agri show was Frome Cheese Show where we served 500 lunches in two hours. Then I did the catering at Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show, and at Bath & West I look after the sponsors. We also have a wholesale business, producing cakes for cafes and shops including Dike & Son in Stalbridge. And we make meat pies and pasties – 48kg of pasties a week. We have blast freezers that reduce temperatures from 97º to -5º in two hours, so nothing is hanging around. We work four days a week in the unit, but it’s a seven (eight!) day a week business. ‘I was inspired to go into event catering by my own wedding. We found it really hard to find exactly the catering we wanted – what was obvious to us seemed extremely hard to find. My husband is interested in the money side of the business, while I just want people to have a good time!’
Desserts and the cheese board featuring Dorset Blue Vinny at the Royal Bath & West sponsors lunch
Keeping things local ‘We use local suppliers wherever we can. Our meat comes from Andrew Barclay in Wincanton. We use 300 local eggs every week. Whenever we have a cheeseboard, we’ll use Dorset Blue Vinny, a Somerset cheddar like Westcombe and a West Country brie.’ What are her best-selling favourites among the huge range of cakes and canapés? ‘Brownies! Dikes took 450 brownies from us just this week. And our Biscoff flapjack comes up a lot in requests. All our items are hand made in small batches and then hand decorated. We also have a lot of equipment here – 800 plates and sets of cutlery – and we take catering ovens on site.
‘I learned, running the business, that every wedding or event is different. Nothing is ever the same. I’ve also learned a lot about logistics – we have a lot of cables on site, for example, and I have to ensure that everything reaches a plug, and that a marquee has connections. We’ve seen places where there’s no water supply. ‘We haven’t had any big disasters ourselves, but I have seen a few leaning wedding cakes on a hot day and had to swiftly hint to the bride and groom that they might like to cut the cake … like NOW! ‘I’ve also learned not to give up. When my son was six months old and I was in my second month of being in business I broke my back. But I just keep going.’
Behind the scenes When guests sit down at a wedding or an agricultural show lunch, there’s an enormous amount of invisible logistics that will have already taken place. ‘The guests won’t have seen that all the glasses and cutlery will have been polished beforehand, and that their plate is handled four times before they see it. It’s also all the ordering and shopping we have to do. Once we’re on site, we have to have everything there. We’ll be on site as soon as the marquee is up and we’ll be there clearing things the next day. ‘A big issue for us now is allergies – and also getting the host or bride and groom to understand their importance. One in eight people has a serious allergy now, and if we get it wrong, there’s no going back. ‘It is a real privilege to cater for a wedding. It’s stressful – but we want to get things right. We’ve had a few unusual situations, such as catering for someone with specific sensory needs. We also got handed a (full) nappy in the middle of service once! But we take everything in our stride – in this job you also have to expect the unexpected.’
Victoria O’Brien and some of the team at the Bath & West Show
The Shows ‘I’m most proud of my work with the agricultural shows. The first time I did Gillingham and Shaftesbury I had no idea what to expect. I had spoken to the previous caterer, but until you do it you don’t realise how hard it is. And then suddenly people were sending emails congratulating us and my best friend turned up while I was scraping plates into a bucket. We did it! ‘The team is just me and Lauren – when we have events, friends and family come to help. We’re also bringing in some younger workers. We run the business around our families, taking the school run into account. ‘We’re focused on growing the business – I’m learning new skills with a Pru Leith course. We take the food we prepare so personally. We want to make sure everything is perfect, and we strive to make things work.’
Unsurprisingly, astrophotographer Rob Nolan talks about the surreal experience of watching an aurora borealis from our back gardens
In case you didn’t know, something quite spectacular happened on the night of 10th May, and I really hope you had the chance to witness it with your own eyes. Most of Northern Europe was treated to the most powerful Northern Lights display in more than 20 years! To put that into context, the last time this happened, most of us were using film cameras! This time was very different, and thousands of photographers headed to famous landmarks to photograph this extremely rare KP8 to KP9 event. The KP-Index is derived from the German Planetarische Kennziffer, meaning planetary index, which is a measurement of geomagnetic activity in the Earth’s atmosphere. It ranges from 0 (quiet) to 9 – an Extreme Storm. May’s event teetered on the edge of a KP9 event. The last time there was an official KP9 was the Carrington event, the most intense geomagnetic storm ever recorded, which happened in 1859. For May’s amazing display I chose to stay local, and spent hours walking around my local village and the surrounding hills, admiring the views of the spectacular pillars of lights in solitude, which made it all the more special. The image I’ve shared is a particular tree known locally as The Spooky Tree which caught my eye as I was wondering down the lane in our village. This particular geomagnetic storm was the direct result of three CMEs that surged out of the sun’s outer atmosphere and headed toward Earth. A Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME, is a collection of magnetized plasma ejected from the sun’s (exceptionally hot) outer atmospheric layer – the corona – as a result of a disruption in the sun’s magnetic field. I was fortunate enough to capture this CME using my telescope and solar film, to safely observe and photograph the sun’s surface. To have captured the sun spots that then caused the Aurora in the photographs that followed was extremely special.
More to come For me, seeing the huge output from the Sun and its direct effect on the Earth reinforced the huge cosmological forces at work and made it all the more interesting to observe. By pure fluke, I’ve now witnessed the Aurora in March in Finland, in April in Dorset (albeit a much less powerful display) and now in May. I do hope to keep this going into June and beyond, but with night-time hours diminishing, and the more northerly countries already enduring never-ending days, this seems an unlikely trend to keep going. Theres a very good chance we could see more huge Aurora storms this far south, though. With the peak of our Sun’s solar cycle reaching its maximum this year, the Northern Lights could put on some more incredible displays during the middle of our summer nights and on into winter – let’s keep our fingers crossed! This image was taken with the Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera and Nikon Z 14-24 f2.8 lens. The settings used were 14mm at f2.8 exposing for 6 seconds at ISO 1600 and processed in Adobe Lightroom.
The night sky, June 2024 – Rob’s guide for your stargazing this month:
I’ve already talked a lot above about the Northern Lights (it’s so exciting!), so I’ll just pick out a few key celestial events to watch out for during June. As we enter the summer months, it’s time to keep your eyes peeled for those rare noctilucent clouds often seen in the twilight hours after the sun has set. These eerie-looking clouds occur high up in the sky some 50 miles up, on the edge of space and lit up by the Sun. On 20th June, at exactly 9.51pm, we reach this year’s Summer Solstice and Midsummer’s Day – the longest day and shortest night of the year. There’s also an occultation of the Moon across Saturn on the 27th June in the early hours. This is when the Moon will appear close to Saturn and will briefly pass in front of the planet and Earth to obscure her from our view for about an hour, visible from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Europe. Until next time, clear skies!
Garden lovers will have the opportunity to explore two private gardens, as part of the new Open Gardens event by the local children’s hospice, Julia’s House. Lady Tania Compton’s Spilsbury Farm in Tisbury and Littlebrook Farmhouse in Blandford Forum will open to the public this June. New for 2024, the Julia’s House Open Gardens scheme aims to raise vital funds for the Wiltshire and Dorset children’s hospice charity, which provides critical and compassionate care for the most seriously ill children and their families. Guests can enjoy exploring these delightful gardens, savour homemade cakes and refreshments, and gain gardening tips from the owners. Visits must be booked in advance at the Julia’s House website, where more entry information can be found: juliashouse.org/open–gardens-2024.
Littlebrook Farmhouse, Blandford Forum Wednesday 12th June Visitors will enjoy breathtaking views of the Blackmore Vale from the gardens at Littlebrook Farmhouse which will be open from 2.30pm to 5pm. These charming gardens feature a large landscaped pond area, as well as fruit trees, formal terracing and a thriving vegetable patch – all with those spectacular views! Entry £6 per person.
Lady Tania Compton’s Spilsbury Farm, Tisbury Saturday 15th June Explore the idyllic farmhouse gardens of Spilsbury Farm from 10am to 5.30pm. Home to esteemed garden designer Lady Tania Compton and botanist Dr James Compton, the six-acre gardens are a sweeping mixture of formality and wilderness. Each 1.5 hour bookable visit will begin with a talk from Tania Compton herself, and the opportunity to gain valuable gardening insights and advice. Guests can explore the romantic naturalist gardens at their leisure, taking in the ancient oak trees, an orchard with long meadow grass peppered with perennials, and borders billowing with eryngiums, delphiniums, cardoons and roses. Entry £15 per person
Yeovil’s Stroke Unit controversy – amid the public debate, Rachael Rowe looks at the pros and cons of NHS Somerset’s plans to centralise services
Yeovil Hospital
The NHS in Somerset is recommending centralising its stroke service. In January NHS Somerset’s Integrated Care Board (ICB) voted for a single emergency stroke unit for the county at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, and the closure of the hyper-acute unit at Yeovil Hospital, which provides an acute stroke ward with specialist services for people who have had a new suspected stroke. Centralising services is recommending nationally – it saves lives. But the threatened closure of the Yeovil unit has raised concerns from local people and politicians. Under the ICB plans, Yeovil District Hospital will keep 12 acute stroke beds – where people can be cared for, from 72 hours after a stroke. But it will lose its four hyper acute beds.
Strokes in Somerset A stroke is a medical emergency, and for each minute treatment is delayed, four million neurons and 12 million brain cells die. Swiftly getting the very best treatment is critical, as is access to stroke rehabilitation. The way that stroke is treated today is radically different to that of even 20 years ago, when people were simply given some rehabilitation. Today, people with a suspected stroke can expect a CT scan, access to clot-busting drugs, rehabilitation and, where appropriate, specialist procedures. In London, centralising the stroke pathway saves almost 100 lives each year. Nationally, the chance of a stroke affects 1.8 per cent of the population, but Somerset has an older age profile, so it is higher at 2.3 per cent and Dorset is higher still at 2.55 per cent. Those higher figures are a vital reason for prioritising stroke care in the South West. The public can also play a critical role. Nine out of ten strokes are preventable, according to the Stroke Association. Smoking, obesity, atrial fibrillation and drinking excess alcohol all increase your risk of a stroke. Around 5.5 million people in the UK have no idea they have high blood pressure – getting it detected and treated can significantly reduce the risk of a stroke. Preventing strokes in up to 90 per cent of sufferers would result in massive savings in resources. A national review (GIRFT) of stroke services in 2019 found care in Somerset was good. However, stroke medical teams were not always able to perform rapid assessments, CT scans could not always be provided within an hour, clot-busting drugs were not always given within the critical time frame, and it was challenging to get an MDT (Multi-Disciplinary Team) assessment for therapy. Clearly, something had to change. Proposals to centralise stroke services in Somerset are not new. Since 2013, there have been at least three commissioned reports by the health organisations, visits by experts, and recommendations to centralise the hyper-acute stroke service so that stroke patients will go to Taunton or Dorchester. Locals know that the stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital is not solely for the people of South Somerset – a quarter of users come from North Dorset. If it is safe to close, as claimed, why has it taken so long?
Distance and Staff When centralised services were recommended back in 2014, a major analysis of travel times was also commissioned. The review showed that from some parts of Somerset, patients would be unable to get to a hyper-acute stroke centre within an hour. A further review of times in Somerset for the latest report shows that there would be an increase in journey times in some areas. Is it better to travel for slightly longer to get the best and most appropriate treatment, given that all the research supports centralised services? Concerns have also been raised by local politicians about transferring the sickest patients to Bristol or Southampton. West Dorset MP Chris Loder says: ‘It is a fantasy to believe that stroke patients from Yeovil will stay in Somerset. They will not go to Taunton for their treatment; they will go to Dorchester, and if necessary on to Southampton.’ Transfers to Southampton give certain people a fighting chance of receiving a thrombectomy – a revolutionary new treatment to remove a clot from the brain. Somerset and Dorset have never had neurosurgical centres, and residents have always had to travel to be treated by a brain surgeon. Given the choice of surviving a stroke and reducing the effects of long-term disability, or choosing to not travel to Southampton, few would refuse to travel. In the past year, 17 people from Somerset received this life-saving treatment. There is a national shortage of stroke consultants and specialists in England, which means it is increasingly difficult to find new staff. Although Yeovil has recently recruited new stroke consultants, there remain challenges in covering on-call rotas at both Taunton and Yeovil, which means the target of a seven day service is more difficult to achieve.
Postcode lottery Perhaps more concerning is that currently there is unequal care for people experiencing a stroke in Somerset. A spokesman for NHS Somerset said: ‘There is currently variation and inequitable provision of hyper-acute and acute stroke care across the county, especially over weekends and out of hours, where it takes significantly longer for patients to receive treatments such as thrombolysis. Patients admitted to Yeovil District Hospital at weekends are unlikely to see a consultant stroke specialist until after the weekend. There is no weekend outpatient service for patients suffering a TIA (transient ischaemic attack, or ‘mini stroke’) in the Yeovil area. ‘We are failing to meet several national performance targets in relation to hyper-acute and acute stroke care, which has a negative impact on clinical outcomes, including rates of thrombolysis and thrombectomy, time taken to receive thrombolysis, TIA assessments falling outside of 24 hours and access to MDT assessments.’ Underpinning the decision to centralise services is the need to provide a service that enables everyone to get the best possible care – not just pockets of the general population. It’s a difficult decision to make, but the research consistently shows that, when specialist services like hyper-acute stroke are centralised, more lives are saved. Dorset County Hospital NHS Trust was approached for a response but was unable to comment due to the pre election period. The Stroke Association was approached for comment and did not respond by the publication deadline.
Barry Cuff says a warm, damp spring means slugs and weeds – but also strawberries!
The lettuce has enjoyed the warm damp spring. All images: Barry Cuff
May was a very busy month, both on the plot and in the greenhouses. With more than four inches of rain and fairly warm conditions, good growth was ensured, and flushes of weed seedlings kept the hoe busy! One of our ‘special’ weeds is thornapple, which has quite distinctive seedlings. When these started to appear on the 8th it was a good sign that the soil was warm enough for the more tender vegetables to go out. So far, 2024 has been the year of the slug! Together with snails they have been active since February, and unusually they have even attacked plants like rhubarb, which they usually avoid. Pigeons have been another major pest this spring.
On the allotment in May:
1st – Plant up 20 tomatoes in large pots. Sown in individual small pots: six Crown Prince squash, six Butterfly squash, five Defender courgette and two Astia courgette, all in the greenhouse. 2nd – Cut paths, put straw under strawberries and cover with a net. Greenhouse – sow ten seeds of Cornichon de Paris gherkins. 4th – A cutworm has attacked a few lettuce. Harvest the tub-grown Jazzy potato: 19 tubers of varying sizes. Most of these were eaten with our evening meal – absolutely delicious with butter! 5th – Hand weeding, and prepare the ground for the first two lines of peas. 6th – Plant out second batch of Little Gem lettuce, and sow a patch of Scarlet Globe radish. Plant out the last of the onion seedlings – these will be used as spring onions. Sow Moonshine and Scarlet Emperor runner beans in the greenhouse. 7th – Put twine around broad beans for support. 8th – Sow 20 seeds of White Step cauliflower and 30 seeds of Safari dwarf French bean in the greenhouse. 9th – Pump water from the well (mainly being used in the greenhouses on the site) 10th – Sow 20 seeds Cheesy cauliflower and 36 seeds of Swift sweetcorn. This is a second batch, as those sown in April are a little slow.
trawberry picking began on 24th May
12th – Prepare the ground for two lines of peas, more weeding, and feed the garlic and onions. 13th – Put net cloches over first two rows of peas. 14th – MORE THAN AN INCH OF RAIN! 15th – Sow 20 seeds of Cendis cauliflower and 15 seeds of Rudolph purple sprouting broccoli in the greenhouse. Tie and remove tomato side shoots. Hand weed the parsnip. 16th – Thin celery and celeriac seedlings in plugs. Another plot holder gave us two Butterfly squash plants as we had poor germination. Runner beans into the cold frame. Pull some spring onions. 17th – Sow 20 seeds of Ironman and 15 seeds of Atlantis calabrese in the greenhouse. 18th – Pump water for site. Weed raspberry canes. See we have lost two potatoes due to ant damage – we lose a few each year as ants nest on the roots. 19th – Harden celery and celeriac. 21st – Sow about 30 seeds of Nautica dwarf French beans (as Safari had poor emergence). Cut the hedgebank. Put more twine around broad beans. 22nd – Harden sweetcorn. Cut lettuce. Cut chicons for their fourth cut. 23rd – Erect canes for runner beans. Dug skulkers* from the next area to be planted. 24th – Patch first three rows of peas. Sow a line of Johan pea and half line of Carouby de Massaune mangetout pea. Pick first bunch of Sweet William and the first strawberries! Hand weed and thin parsnips.
At the end of the month most crops are looking exceptionally well
26th – Plant out 30 Moonshine and 20 Scarlet Emperor runner beans. 27th – Pull spring onions, cut lettuce. Delicious skulkers for dinner. 28th – Plant out about 70 Swift sweetcorn, weeding. Pick strawberries. 29th – Plant out Astia and Defender courgettes.Plant out Crown Prince and Butterfly winter squash. 30th – Pinch out tops of broad beans to aid pod production. Very little blackfly, but large numbers of Ladybirds. Taking side shoots from tomatoes At the end of the month most crops are looking exceptionally well.
Dorset term for potatoes accidentally left in the ground from the previous year.
